Dollar/rupee closed at Rs 69.34 Wednesday compared to its opening of Rs 69.42/$1. Dollar/rupee traded and ends down on Wednesday tracking a fall in crude oil prices amid a globally weak greenback.Crude prices are lower; dollar is weak as Fed is expected to cut rates in the next few months. The focus will remain on India's CPI data due later today,"
Brent futures for August delivery traded 1.51% down at $61.35 a barrel on Wednesday.Crude oil prices retreated weighed down by a weaker demand outlook caused by the ongoing US-China trade war amid a rise in US crude inventories despite growing expectations of ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its forecasts for 2019 world oil demand growth and US crude oil production in a monthly report released on Tuesday. It reduced its 2019 world oil demand growth forecast by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.22 million bpd.
According to data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday, US crude inventories unexpectedly rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week ended June 7 to 482.8 million barrels. Market participants expected a decrease of 481,000 barrels.
Adding to that, the greenback continued trading lower against other major counterparts weighed on by expectation of a Fed rate cut in the coming months.Investor focus is now on the Fed's next policy meeting on June 18-19 and on the signals the central bank could offer on the direction of monetary policy.
The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, traded at 96.74 late Wednesday compared to 96.79 at close of Indian market on Tuesday.
Sensex ends 193 points lower, Nifty holds 11,900.